Chamfering edges of piece - it appears one needs to add them all at once!

[WobblyHand]

I have drawn up an AXA-4D like boring bar holder. Have been trying to buy one for 2-1/2 months, but Aloris seems to be always pushing out delivery for yet another week. They seem to have some weird production problems, which is sad for them. Since I made an OXA boring bar holder for my mini-lathe last summer, (out of 7075) thought I might attempt an AXA-4D out of 1144. This time, I decided to use FreeCAD to model it. Out of a sense of making the drawing roughly look like a finished part, though I would add the 1mm chamfers. I can chamfer the top face edges and the bottom face edges, but not the side edges. The chamfer simply fails. Get a pop up that states: Input error. Failed to create chamfer. No other information was given.

Resolution: Seems one needs to add all the chamfers at once. I didn't expect that.
Edit: This is necessary to do on a body. If your part consists of multiple bodies, then one needs to complete all chamfers on that body. Then one can independently work on the successive bodies.

Drew this up in about an hour last night, except for the chamfers. Have an import AXA-4 as a rough template. Dovetail isn't quite exact. Need to measure the fit of the AXA-4 on the tool post and measure carefully with dowel pins. Pretty pleased to be able to draw something like this. Almost all the parameters are in a spreadsheet, meaning it is very easy to adapt. (Need to add the other parameters, but was having some fun determining an algebraic expression!) It appears I can fit up to a 1" bar in the block. What you see is the block for a 3/4" bar. Basic block dimensions are 1.5" x 2" x 3".

Can't say how tickled I am to be able to do this!

 

[Toolmaker51]

I share your excitement accomplishing a program, and generating drawings.

At same time, stymied by folks obsessed by CAD when a cocktail napkin sketch could suffice. It turns out cutting edge knowledge has value just like plain old skill, and worth maintaining both. I still prefer the mental act of visualization, like thinking in isometric projection.

Though, when a convert thinks himself superior, that raises hackles. "Has to be CAD", or "Everything is this days..." After pointing out traditional aspects of hand drawn work his CAD misses, (sectioning, 3 properly oriented views, hidden lines, line weights most of all), still have the coup de gras; Ok, how did they build The Golden Gate Bridge?
Crickets.

 

[WobblyHand]

I share your excitement accomplishing a program, and generating drawings.

At same time, stymied by folks obsessed by CAD when a cocktail napkin sketch could suffice. It turns out cutting edge knowledge has value just like plain old skill, and worth maintaining both. I still prefer the mental act of visualization, like thinking in isometric projection.

Though, when a convert thinks himself superior, that raises hackles. "Has to be CAD", or "Everything is this days..." After pointing out traditional aspects of hand drawn work his CAD misses, (sectioning, 3 properly oriented views, hidden lines, line weights most of all), still have the coup de gras; Ok, how did they build The Golden Gate Bridge?
Crickets.

I think learning this tool has been enabling for me. Been frustrated that some of the designs in my head have been difficult for me to get on paper. Can a good hand sketch go a long way? Yes, of course. A sketch works for most things I need to do. CAD is just a tool, that can make some things easier. It isn't a substitute for clear thinking, good design, nor scribbling out notes, or numbers.

Is what I drew complicated? Not at all. Could I have done it on paper? Yes. Would it have been to scale? Likely not, and I'd have to redraw it a few times. For me, learning CAD is just a stepping stone to create things of greater complexity, with more pieces, with lower effort.

With any tool (software) there are quirks to learn. Like having to chamfer all the edges in a body (that need to be chamfered) in FreeCAD. Thought I would share that with people learning FreeCAD. Not going to lie, learning this tool was very hard for me. Took me 15 6 hour days working on this software before I could do much at all. Heck, I couldn't even connect lines when I started. Not knowing 3D CAD did hurt me in my working career. So now that I have time, I wanted to learn CAD. Succeeded, to some extent. Good enough to make my drawings so I can make more stuff.

 

[Toolmaker51]

Without quoting your remark, it relays what I'd hoped;

It's a tool, and not the only one I have.